We are excited to present you with an engaging and meaningful capstone project that will challenge your data analysis skills and provide valuable insights for food truck operators in the face of rising food costs. Your work will be instrumental in aiding these businesses in their planning and decision-making processes.

Project Overview:

The capstone project revolves around the analysis of rising food costs and their impacts on food truck operators. We have divided this project into two teams, each focusing on specific aspects to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the issue. Your team's focus will be on the food cost aspect of this issue. Team 2's focus will be on consumer demand, spending and trends and will make recommendations on menus from that perspective.

Cross-collaboration between the two teams is strongly encouraged.

Analyzing Trendlines in Overall Food Costs:

Your team's primary objective is to evaluate the trendlines in overall food costs, with a specific focus on those foods that have experienced significant and sustained price increases over a period of three months or more. This analysis will serve as the foundation for providing actionable recommendations to food truck operators.

Project Scope and Tasks:

1. Data Collection: Start by gathering relevant datasets related to food prices. Ensure that the data is up-to-date and covers a substantial period to capture trends accurately. An exploration of OpenData from Canadian Government sources is strongly encouraged.
2. Data Analysis: Utilize advanced data analysis techniques to identify foods that have shown consistent price increases for three months or more. This will require statistical analysis and visualization to present your findings effectively.
3. Menu Recommendations: Based on your analysis, provide food truck operators with recommendations on which foods might be better suited for building menus. Consider factors such as price stability, consumer interest, and potential profit margins.
4. Consumer Trends: Explore consumer preferences and trends in the food industry. This will help food truck operators align their offerings with what customers are looking for.
5. Presentation: Prepare a comprehensive report and presentation summarizing your findings and recommendations. Your presentation should be engaging and easy to understand.

Data Sharing:

Collaboration and knowledge sharing are encouraged to enhance the overall project's quality.

Timeline:

Please note that this is a Capstone-level project, and we expect a high level of rigor and professionalism. A project timeline should provide the following milestones at minimum.

• Data Collection and Preprocessing: [Specify start and end dates]
• Data Analysis: [Specify start and end dates]
• Recommendations and Report Writing: [Specify start and end dates]
• Presentation: [Specify presentation date]

Key Takeaways:

• Focus on identifying foods with sustained price increases and providing recommendations for food truck menus.
• Collaborate and share insights with Team 2 when necessary.
• Aim for actionable and data-driven recommendations to benefit food truck operators.
• Maintain a friendly and approachable tone in your communication and presentation.

If you have any questions or need further guidance during the project, please do not hesitate to reach out. We look forward to seeing your innovative solutions and recommendations!

Students will use many sources to complete their work, including:

• Consumer spending data from StatsCan
• Food Trend Data (various sources)
• Consumer purchasing behaviour data (various sources)
• Food Cost Data (StatsCan)

Tasks Learners Need to Complete

1. Collect and clean data related to customer purchases and preferences.
2. Conduct exploratory data analysis to identify key patterns.
3. Build predictive models to forecast consumer behavior.
4. Present findings in an easily digestible format for food truck operators.

Support for Learners

• FTAC will provide students with relevant data sets
• FTAC contacts will be available for questions to ensure the project runs on track.
• Feedback sessions at key milestones.
• Presence for kick off and final presentations